Attractions

Black History Sights

Savannah boasts the First African Baptist Church, 23 Montgomery St., Franklin Square (tel. 912/233-6597), the first such church in North America. It was established by George Leile, a slave whose master allowed him to preach to other slaves when they made visits to plantations along the Savannah River. Leile was granted his freedom in 1777 and later raised some $1,500 to purchase the present church from a white congregation. The black congregation rebuilt the church brick by brick, and it became the first brick building in Georgia to be owned by African Americans. The pews on either side of the organ are the work of African slaves. Sunday-morning worship is at 8:30 and 11:30am.

Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum, 460 Martin Luther King, Jr., Blvd. (tel. 912/231-8900), close to the Savannah Visitors Center, opened in 1996. It's dedicated to the lives and services of African Americans and their contributions to the civil rights movements in Savannah. Dr. Gilbert died in 1956 but was a leader in early efforts to gain educational, social, and political equity for African Americans in Savannah. Hours are Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm. Admission is $4 for adults, $3 for seniors, and $2 for children.

Nearby Forts

About 2 1/2 miles east of the center of Savannah via the Islands Expressway stands Old Fort Jackson, 1 Fort Jackson Rd. (tel. 912/232-3945), Georgia's oldest standing fort, with a 9-foot-deep tidal moat around its brick walls. In 1775, an earthen battery was built here. The original brick fort was begun in 1808 and manned during the War of 1812. It was enlarged and strengthened between 1845 and 1860, and saw its greatest use as headquarters for the Confederate river defenses during the Civil War. Its arched rooms, designed to support the weight of heavy cannons mounted above, hold 13 exhibit areas. The fort is open daily 9am to 5pm, charging $4.25 for adults, $3.75 for seniors and children 6 to 18; admission is free for children 5 and under.

Fort McAllister, Richmond Hill, 10 miles southwest on U.S. 17 (tel. 912/727-2339), on the banks of the Great Ogeechee River, was a Confederate earthwork fortification. Constructed in 1861-62, it withstood nearly 2 years of bombardments before it finally fell on December 13, 1864, in a bayonet charge that ended General Sherman's infamous "March to the Sea." There's a visitor center with historic exhibits and also walking trails and campsites. It's open daily 8am to 5pm. Admission is $4 for adults, $2.50 for children over 5, and $3.50 for seniors.

Fort Pulaski (tel. 912/786-5787), a national monument, is 15 miles east of Savannah off U.S. 80 on Cockspur and McQueen islands at the very mouth of the Savannah River. It cost $1 million and took 25 tons of brick and 18 years of toil to finish. Yet it was captured in just 30 hours by Union forces. Completed in 1847 with walls 7 1/2 feet thick, it was taken by Georgia forces at the beginning of the war. However, on April 11, 1862, defense strategy changed worldwide when Union cannons, firing from more than a mile away on Tybee Island, overcame the masonry fortification. The effectiveness of rifled artillery (firing a bullet-shaped projectile with great accuracy at long range) was clearly demonstrated. The new Union weapon marked the end of the era of masonry fortifications. The fort was pentagonally shaped, with galleries and drawbridges crossing the moat. You can still find shells from 1862 embedded in the walls. There are exhibits of the fort's history in the visitor center. It's open daily (except Christmas) from 9am to 5pm. Admission is $3 for adults and free for those 15 and under.